The magic spinner sent me south on a day of strong winds from the west. It wasn’t a good idea to be out on a bike during the latter stages of Storm Lilian, but by lunchtime things had died down a bit. The roads were covered in bits of tree that had fallen in the high winds as I set off to attempt to follow the blue line of latitude, numbered 23, on my OS maps all the way to the south coast.
Initially, the route from home is obvious. I followed the River Derwent for several miles through Grindleford, Froggatt and Curbar to reach the pretty village of Baslow, about seven miles away. The scenery is lovely, but very familiar. These are regular cycling routes for me. Baslow is notable for a few things. It’s pretty church has a clock that, instead of numbers, spells out the word VICTORIA 1897 around the clock face. Nearby is the old narrow stone bridge over the river, with a village lockup at one end. Baslow village sits just on the edge of the extensive Chatsworth Estate, and there are several outrageously pretty estate villages nearby, like Pilsley, Edensor (“Enzor”) and Beeley, all of which I visited today in that order. Then you reach Rowsley, where you change estates, from Chatsworth to Haddon, and dukes, from Devonshire to Rutland. It was also where I parted ways with the River Derwent.
My route South now took me along the tiniest of lanes through quiet places like Alport, Elton, Aldwark and Brassington. It was great for cycling, if you don’t mind some hill climbing. I had extra resistance today from the strong breeze, but it was a otherwise a lovely day with sweeping views across the hills.
I was reunited with the rest of the world, it seemed, at Carsington Water, a reservoir on the very edge of the Peak that was only opened in 1992. It flooded an area below Wirksworth large enough to make it England’s ninth largest reservoir. It is also a popular place for days out and water sports, cycling and walking. I stopped to have a quick cup of tea and some sustenance, mindful that I may not get another chance today. I was heading into a more sparsely populated area and also into the late afternoon, when many tea rooms and cafes are closed. It felt like a prudent move, and so it proved.
The country hereafter was made up of small lanes through tiny villages and not a lot else until I reached the border with Staffordshire at Tutbury, whose castle sits on a bluff above the Dove valley. It was closed by now, but on a nearby street I saw three peacocks strolling around on the pavement, and I can’t imagine that the two were entirely unconnected. But who knows?
I carried on along quiet lanes into ancient Needwood Forest, now part of the more recently created National Forest. This occupies an area of 200 square miles in the centre of England, where 9.5 million trees have been planted over the past thirty years. This month the target of 25% Forest cover was reached, following on from a low of 6% in the 1990s. That’s obviously a good thing in an age of global warming and climate change. A start, anyway. The aim is to achieve one third Forest coverage and the next milestone is ten million trees planted.
There were some pretty red brick villages around here, but I was never far from towns like a Burton on Trent and Lichfield, and perhaps an hour before reaching the end of my ride today, I crossed the River Trent on a narrow bridge. It’s not a huge river this far upstream, but I once went canoeing near this stretch and it was a lot of fun. I stayed on the east bank, briefly returning to the most southerly parts of Derbyshire, before dribbling in to the suburbs of Tamworth. I reached the town centre in no time, and took a little longer to find my pub accommodation for the night. I was immediately struck by how differently everyone spoke here. I had crossed a linguistic line and arrived within the influence of Birmingham. It isn’t a pretty accent to my ear. The pub was buzzing this Friday evening when I arrived just after 7pm. By the time I had finished my meal around 9pm, however, there was just one other person there. I don’t think it was anything I said.
